The Influence of Daodejing on the Construction of Corporate Culture in Contemporary China

Chunsen Hu

Hubei Business College

Key words: moral economy, corporate culture, construction

Abstract: Daodejing is one of the greatest masterpieces in Chinese history, which has a profound influence on Chinese traditional philosophy, science, politics, religion, etc. According to UNESCO, Daodejing is the most popular cultural masterpiece translated into foreign languages except Bible. The full text of "Tao Te Ching" is based on the philosophy of "morality", in which the discussion of management, military, etiquette and other thoughts provides a good foundation for the formation and development of Chinese contemporary corporate culture.

In the early 1980s, Teleisi·dier, a professor at the Harvard University Institute of Education, and Guwenalun·kennidi,

a McKinsey consulting company, accumulated rich information in long-term business management research. Over a period of six months, they conducted a detailed survey of 80 companies and wrote a book entitled "Corporate Culture-Customs and Etiquette for Corporate Survival." After the book was published in July 1981, it became the best-selling management book. Later, it was rated as one of the 10 most influential management monographs in the 1980s and became a classic for discussing corporate culture. With regard to the concept of corporate culture, there are many different understandings and expressions, which are representative of:

1. American scholars Yuehan·kete and Zhanmusi·hesikete(1995) believe that corporate culture refers to the corporate values and business practices that are shared by all parts of a company, at least among top managers. Is a common cultural phenomenon that exists in the functional departments of a branch of an enterprise or in departments located in different geographical environments[1].

2. Teleisi·dier and Alun·kennidi(1997) believe that corporate culture is values, heroes, customs, cultural networks, and corporate environments.[2]

3.William Da Nei(2001) believes that corporate culture is "aggressive, defensive, flexibility -- that is, the values that determine activities, opinions, and behavior patterns.[3]

On the basis of summing up the cultural differences between China and the West, Chinese scholars Lizhonghe, Yejianming, and Zhoushizhong(1999) believe that China's corporate culture is an image with Chinese cultural characteristics composed of its values, beliefs, rituals, symbols, and ways of doing things.[4]

Dill and Kennedy(1997) outlined the entire theoretical system of corporate culture into five elements, namely the corporate environment, values, heroes, cultural rituals, and cultural networks. Chinese scholars Hexincheng and Goushiming(2002) believe that China's corporate culture and Western corporate culture are different due to cultural differences. They believe that China's corporate culture contains values, social responsibilities, culture, mission and corporate environment. Among them, the formation of the four elements of values, social responsibility, culture, and mission is closely related to Chinese traditional culture. The "Moral Classics" is one of the greatest masterpieces in Chinese history. After thousands of years of inheritance and development, its theory has a great influence on the formation of contemporary Chinese corporate culture.

I. "The Moral Classics" cultivates the "adversity culture" of enterprises

Adverse culture refers to the cultural essence of enterprises in the face of business difficulties. They do not give up, seek hope, face difficulties, overcome difficulties, and break through difficulties. The "Moral Classics" has the following expression for the adversity of the country and the family: "The avenue is abolished and there is righteousness; The country is chaotic and has loyal ministers. "It means that if the system of a country is relaxed, then the people in this country will appear. If a country is in chaos, then people loyal to the country will appear.

For a company, when faced with difficulties, it often feels that there is no way, so it loses courage and hope. The "Moral Book" uses the "Moral Book" to tell entrepreneurs not to be afraid. In times of crisis, they must value the strength of their employees. Organize good employees to overcome the immediate difficulties. The more difficult it is, the more people who really support you, who really care about you, who are truly loyal to you will appear. With their strength, you will overcome the difficulties.

II. "Moral Classics" to cultivate the "leadership culture" of enterprises

Zhengweiting(2005) believes that the leadership culture of the company is the method and skill of the organization's managers in managing employees. The "Virtue" proposes the following recommendations for the leadership of leaders. The "Moral Classics" believes: "Too high, under the knowledge of it. Second, Pro and reputation. Second, fear it.

2019 9th International Conference on Social Science and Education Research (SSER 2019)

Copyright © (2019) Francis Academic Press, UK DOI: 10.25236/sser.2019.2821416

Second, insult it. It means that managers at the highest level of the organization's leadership, the most advanced management art, are to achieve clear responsibilities, clear rights and responsibilities, do not interfere with the specific work of employees, master the development direction of the company, and formulate a good management system. If you arbitrarily interfere with the specific work of employees, it will affect the normal operation of the company. The moral Sutra believes that in an enterprise, department managers should be responsible and responsible, respect employees, and treat employees with sincerity and integrity. This will win the trust of employees and make the organization more United.

The "Moral Classics" believes that the leadership with poor management level has two characteristics. One is to control employees through strict penalties, so that employees fear him and fear him to achieve management goals; The second is to arbitrarily arrange work for employees, relying on their own identity and status to insult employees, so that employees are not respected. Such leadership will only allow the company to develop in an unhealthy working environment. The result is inevitably that employees will resign and the company faces difficulties.

Therefore, the Tao Te Ching tells Chinese entrepreneurs that they must rely on people-oriented Humanized management systems to manage their own employees. As leaders, they must have the basic ability to respect, courtesy, sincerity, communication, and coordination.

III. "Moral Classics" Cultivate the "Management Culture" of Enterprises

The Tao Te Ching believes: "The highest wisdom and morality are like water. Water is the origin of life. Water often flows to the place where people do not want to go. This is its closest to the law of the earth. "The revelation of the" Moral Classics "to entrepreneurs is that operating enterprises must also be as focused as deep water; Treat your employees as equal and kind-hearted as water; Treat customers like a tide of credit; Governance companies should be as fair and clean as water; In the competition, wisdom is also like water. It knows how to find the opportunity. The movement is moving, the quiet is quiet, Cain is hidden, and the detour is bypassing.

At present, there are a number of Chinese enterprises that do not have clear business ideas and opinions in the course of their business operations. They tend to lose sight of the direction of their development, forget their sense of mission, which is supposed to be the sound development of human society, and treat their employees with despotism. There is no integrity in treating customers, lack of fairness in managing companies, and when faced with fierce market competition, they are not good at seizing opportunities. What the managers of these enterprises lack ideologically is an objective understanding of the philosophy of the "Moral Classics," which tells entrepreneurs that business enterprises must have good intentions. Only companies that are willing to work for a better life for mankind can become great companies.

IV. "The Moral Classics" cultivates the "cohesive culture" of enterprises

The "cohesive culture" of the enterprise refers to the degree of recognition of the common corporate goals or corporate leaders by all employees, and is the embodiment of the basic ideas of the enterprise in everyone's eyes. The cohesion of the company determines whether the employees can actively, actively and effectively perform creative work, whether they can cooperate with each other to improve work efficiency, and whether the company's goals can be achieved.

The "Moral Classics" said to the ancient Chinese emperors: "The people of the world are sacred and cannot be strongly ruled against their will and nature. Otherwise, if they use strong power to rule the world, they will surely fail; Powerful control of the world, will surely lose the world. Now, treating employees like this will also enhance corporate cohesion.

First, enterprises should attach great importance to the status of employees. "The artifacts of the world cannot be done and cannot be performed." To treat employees must be people-oriented, win the hearts and minds. The "Tao Te Ching" tells contemporary Chinese entrepreneurs: "Since ancient times, it has been a constant natural law. The reason why heaven and earth can last is because its existence and operation are for the production of everything, not for themselves, so there is no life. But eternal because of selflessness. The saints always withdraw their bodies and give the opportunity to everyone, so they stand out among the people; It is precisely because of his selflessness that he always keeps himself out of the way and maintains everyone. "It is also instructive to use this sentence in business operations. The life of the enterprise is "it does not live on its own." Excellent enterprises are the carriers for training talents and benefiting the society. The best products of the enterprise should be people, and other products are only the result of incidental. It is the long-term way for enterprises to pursue the heavenly way, educate people for a hundred years, and spread and continue the selfless spirit of enterprise. Enterprise culture is the sum of the cultures created by the enterprise related people in the process of reforming the enterprise practice. In this creative activity, it is the employees of the enterprise who play a leading and decisive role. If the enterprise is regarded as an organism, Then employees are the living cells that make up this organism.

The above analysis analyzes the influence of the contents of the four aspects of the "Moral Classics" on the formation of corporate culture. It is only part of the "Moral Classics" and is a profound and profound wisdom. It deeply excavates the essence of the "Moral Classics" and it still has many profound ideas. This will have far-reaching guiding significance for the development of enterprises. In order for our enterprises to make great progress, it is necessary to study the Tao Te Ching carefully and guide their words and deeds with its philosophy of kindness, honesty and humanism. It will surely win the recognition of the public and stand firm in the market competition and endure for a

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long time. Reference [1]Yixian Zhang,Alexander Kovalenko. Interpretation of Poetry by J. Brodsky in the Context of the Philosophy Tao Te Ching[P]. Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Pedagogy, Communication and Sociology (ICPCS 2019),2019. [2]Yan Wang. A Study of Polysemy and Multi-translation in Tao Te Ching[P]. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities (ICCESSH 2019),2019. [3]Clay J. Cockerell. Pressure and disenchantment in physicians—Part II: Lessons for physicians from the Tao Te Ching[J]. Clinics in Dermatology,2017,35(1). [4]Tatsiana Silantsyeva. The Triads of Expression and the Four Paradoxes of Sense: A Deleuzean Reading of the Two Opening Aphorisms of the Dao De Jing[J]. Dao,2016,15(3). [5]Alicia Hennig. Applying Laozi’s Dao De Jing in Business[J]. Philosophy of Management,2017,16(1).

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